The People's Liberation Army had a rank of Da Jiang (Chinese: 大将; literally: "grand general") from 1955 to 1965. Da Jiang corresponded to the Soviet rank of colonel general. The rank system of the People's Liberation Army was abolished in 1965 and restored in 1988. The 1988 system introduced a rank of Yi Ji Shang Jiang (Chinese: 一级上将; literally: "first class senior general"). No one had held such rank and it was abolished in 1994.

The Egyptian Army uses a rank that translates as "colonel general". It is equal to the rank of 4-star or "full" general. Colonel general is, however, junior to the rank of field marshal and is an honorary distinction usually held only by defense ministers.

In the French Army, under the Ancien régime, the officer in nominal command of all the regiments of a particular branch of service (i. e. infantry, cavalry, dragoons, Swiss troops, etc.) was known as the colonel general. This was not a rank, but an office of the Crown.

The Republic of Georgia adopted Soviet designations after its independence in 1991 so that the rank of colonel-general (გენერალ-პოლკოვნიკი general-polkovniki) exists, yet it is only used as highest possible rank in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

This is not to be confused with Generaloberst, the three-star rank (OF-8) of the National People's Army until 1990. However, the Bundeswehr (first in West Germany and since 1990 in a unified Germany) does not use the rank.

In Hungary, the rank of colonel general (vezérezredes) was introduced to the Imperial and Royal Army (the common ground force of the Dual Monarchy) in 1915. The rank replaced the ranks of gyalogsági tábornok (general of infantry), lovassági tábornok (general of cavalry), and táborszernagy (general of artillery) in the early 1940s.

The rank title vezérezredes is still in use for the highest ranking (four-star) general officers of the Magyar Honvédség (Hungarian Defence Forces) and foreign four-star general officers' rank titles are usually translated as vezérezredes in Hungarian including Commonwealth air forces' Air Chief Marshals.

The North Korean rank of sangjang translates as "colonel general". Sangjang is senior to that of jungjang (usually translated as "lieutenant general") and junior to that of daejang (usually translated as "general").

This rank is typically held by the commanding officer of units along the Korean DMZ and the North Korean security zone at Panmunjon. It is also the rank held by the KPA Pyongyang Defense Command's commanding general.

The rank of colonel general (Russian: генерал-полковник, general-polkovnik) did not exist in Imperial Russia[citation needed] and was first established in the Red Army on 7 May 1940, as a replacement for previously existing командарм второго ранга (kommandarm vtorovo ranga, "army commander of the second rank").[1] During World War II, about 199 officers were promoted to colonel general. Before 1943, Soviet colonel generals wore four stars on their collar patches (petlitsy). Since 1943, they have worn three stars on their shoulder straps, so Charles Pettibone compares the rank to the US lieutenant general.[1]

Other than that, the Soviet and Russian rank systems sometimes cause confusion in regard to equivalence of ranks, because the normal Western title for brigadier or brigadier general ceased to exist for the Russian Army in 1798. The combrig rank that corresponded to one-star general only existed in the Soviet Union during 1935–1940. Positions typically reserved for these ranks, such as brigade commanders, have always been occupied by colonels (polkovnik) or, very rarely, major generals (see History of Russian military ranks).

The rank has usually been given to district, front and army commanders, and also to deputy ministers of defense, deputy heads of the general staff and so on.

In some post-Soviet CIS armies (for example in Belarus), there are no generals of the army or marshals, and so colonel general is the highest rank, usually held by the minister of the defense.

In Vietnam, the rank of colonel general is known as thượng tướng (literally "upper general"), equivalent to a three-star general and admiral. Thượng tướng is senior to trung tướng (usually translated as "lieutenant general") and junior to đại tướng (usually translated as "general"). It is used in the army and the air force. It is the equivalent to đô đốc (admiral) in the Navy.